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THOMAS GEORGE PRATT 




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Governor of Mar>'land, 1845-1848. United States Senator, 1850-1857. 
From an oil painting in the State House, Annapolis, Maryland. 



THOMAS GEORGE PRATT 

Governor of Maryland, 1845-1848 
United States Senator, 1850-1857 



BY 

CALEB CLARKE MAGRUDER 



Extracted from Year Book of American Clan Gregor Society, 1913 

The Waverly Press 
Baltimore 






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THOMAS GEORGE PRATT 
By Caleb Clarke Magruder 

THOMAS GEORGE PRATT was bom in Georgetown, District of Columbia, 
of Maryland parentage, February i8. 1804. 
Some authorities state that he was educated at Georgetown College 
and at Princeton. That he was liberally educated is proved by his writings 
and speeches, in which he evidences familiarity with literature, history and the 

classics 

Having read law with Richard S. Coxe of the Washington bar, he moved to 
Prince George's County, Maryland, in 1823, and entered upon the practice of his 
profession at Upper Marlboro', on October 26, 1824. 

He was elected a member of the House of Delegates as a Whig candidate from 
his adopted county, and began his public career in 1832; being annually reelected 
to serve until the end of the session of 1835. 

According to the Maryland Constitution of 1776, the counties elected delegates 
to be electors of the senate, by whom the senators were chosen, who, with the mem- 
bers of the lower house of the assembly, elected a governor. In like manner, the 
two houses elected "five of the most sensible, discreet and experienced men" to 
compose the governor's council. 

This latter provision was engrafted on the constitution as a relic of pre-Revo- 
lutionary days, when the form of government consisted of a house of burgesses, a 
governor's council and a proprietary governor, or royal governor as Maryland had 
for neariy twenty-five years following the Revolution of 1689. 

During the years immediately preceding 1836, political conditions had changed 
in Maryland from those following the Revolution and the War of 181 2. The Fed- 
eralists and Republicans had given way to Whigs and Democrats. The former 
were yet in the ascendency; but the Democrats were sufficiently numerous to 
prove formidable, and to command respect. While firmly entrenched in power, the 
Whigs had so formulated legislation as to give them control of affairs through a 
majority of senatorial electors, although they represented a minority of the popu- 
lation of the state. 

In 1836 the senatorial college consisted of twenty-one Whigs and nmeteen 
Democrats, representing a constituency of 85,179 and 205,922 respectively. The 
Frederick County electors chosen that year were instructed to insist upon the elec- 
tion of eight out of the fifteen senators who were in favor of a reformed constitution. 
While the Whigs were in the majority (21 to 19), they were not in control; twenty- 
four being required to constitute a quorum in the electoral coUege. Because the 
Whigs refused to yield, the Democrats withdrew, thinking to prevent the organ- 
ization of the upper house of the assembly and bring on a crisis which would in 
some fashion lead to the overthrow of Whig domination. 

Thomas Ward Veazey, then governor, and himself a Whig, promptly crushed 

43 



44 American Clan Gregor Society 

the scheme by declaring that the members of the former senate constituted that 
body mitil their successors were elected, and summoned them to assemble at An- 
napolis to engage in their duties. Defeated in their efforts, the Democrats were 
forced to an election; and further chagrined by the election of an even larger Whig 
representation than before prevailed. Their efforts, however, were not without 
results; for Governor Veazey advocated a reform in the constitution, and though a 
partisan Whig, smoothed the way for a representative form of government which 
Enoch Louis Lowe was so largely instrumental in obtaining for the people in 1851. 

This protest on the part of the Democratic electors in 1836 is known in Mary- 
land history as "The Revolt of the Glorious Nineteen." Pratt was a Whig elec- 
tor; and as a reward for his prominence in the struggle, he was elected president of 
the governor's council. As a presidential elector, he cast his vote for Martin Van 
Buren in 1837. His term as president of the governor's council having expired 
(the council having been abolished by an amendment to the constitution to take 
effect in 1838), he was elected the same year to the state senate, where he served 
until 1843. 

In both branches of the legislature he was on its most important committees; 
and while a member of the house of delegates in 1833, introduced the bill which 
gave the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company the right to construct a railroad 
from Baltimore to Washington City. In the same year he secured the passage of 
a bill re-chartering the "Planters' Bank of Prince George's County." This cor- 
poration occupied quarters no longer existing, which at that time formed the street 
entrance to the present Marlboro' House, which was Pratt's home during his resi- 
dence in Upper Marlboro'. 

Maryland had now reached a transition period. The Revolutionary War re- 
sulted in thirteen independent states in America. Geographically and because of 
their desire to maintain their sovereign integrity, union was inevitable. This was 
the theory and the hope of the federal constitution; but its life was dependent upon 
the surrender of many rights of the individual states which their union sought to 
insure. 

While these states were recognized as independent, such recognition was with 
no great measure of respect or acknowledgment of their power to perpetuate them- 
selves. Before the century closed, we were nearly involved in war with our old 
friend and ally France, and the greatest optimist could not persuade himself that 
the Treaty of Paris was considered final by Great Britain. The provoked war in 
181 2 is proof to the contrary. 

The states were bound together by ropes of sand; for solely because of con- 
structions read into the Constitution has it become the guide for our national con- 
duct. A Marshall of Virginia and a Taney of Maryland were required to interpret 
it aright. 

The second war with Great Britain taught us the lesson which has made our 
national life. Our absolute interdependence in event of attack by a foreign foe, 
and the necessity for our united strength to repel him, were the primal causes which 
welded us together and exemplified the strength and beauty of union. 

After this war, the states experienced a larger respect from the powers; but 
of greater moment was the thought of their own security. Out of this grew con- 
fidence in the future, and with it giant efforts were put forth by each state looking 



Proceedings of Third Annual Gathering 45 

toward internal improvements. These meant larger business facilities, attrac- 
tive of increasing population, which would prove productive of material wealth in 
the state and power in the nation. 

Such efforts in Maryland took the form of state aid to private enterprises; 
notably in the construction of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, the Baltimore and 
Ohio Railroad, and the Susquehanna Railroad, now a part of the Northern Central 
system. Not content with $3,000,000 during the administration of Governor 
James Thomas, these systems were clamoring for a larger bonus during that of his 
successor, Governor Veazey. 

At an extraordinary session of the legislature in 1836, a bill was passed appro- 
priating $8,000,000 of the people's money to these and kindred enterprises. It was 
at first a most popular piece of legislation, and there were lively expressions of joy 
in the commonwealth. Enthusiasm was short-lived; and with the induction of 
William Grason as governor lamentations of regret were abroad in the land. From 
a light taxation the people were weighed down by the burdem of this extravagant 
appropriation. 

With reckless indifference the state ceased to pay the interest on its bonds, and 
repudiation was in the air. A crisis had been reached by 1838, at which time Pratt 
was a member of the state senate. Never wavering, his voice was ever raised 
against the shame which would envelop his state should she repudiate her obliga- 
tions; and through all the gloom of her financial depression, his courage in com- 
bating it was magnificent. 

This stand forced him to the front, and made him the Whig candidate for 
governor. His platform was that the state should liquidate her debts; a simple 
one, but only a man of courage would have dared to stand upon it at such a time. 
Named against him was James Carroll. Pratt was elected by a majority of 546 
votes. He took the oath as governor January 6, 1845, ^^^ retired January 3, 
1848. 

Immediately upon his inauguration, he prepared and submitted to the legis- 
lature a system of taxation for raising necessary revenue for the payment of the 
state's debts. It was adopted. Credit and confidence in the honor and integrity 
of the state were at once restored. The accrued interest was paid; promises were 
made for the punctual payment of maturing debts; and at the end of his adminis- 
tration the state's bonds were nearly at par. 

Governor Pratt did not find all Maryland agreeable to his sledge-hammer 
methods for liquidating these debts; but when it was accomplished, and his good 
offices understood and appreciated, he became the most beloved among the state's 
executives. 

During his administration the Mexican war was fought. At the call for vol- 
unteers he wrote: "The sons of Maryland have always obeyed the call of patriot- 
ism and duty, and will now sustain the honor of the state." Among those who re- 
sponded was Oden Bowie of Prince George's county, promoted from private to 
lieutenant for bravery at Monterey, subsequently commissioned captain, and the 
thirty-seventh governor of the state in 1869. 

Events were how hastening to the dark days of internal strife. Already ill 
feeling existed between Pennsylvania and Maryland on account of fugitive slaves. 
A requisition signed by Governor Pratt upon the governor of Pennsylvania for the 



46 American Clan Gregor Society 

return of such a slave was not only dishonored by the governor of Pennsylvania, 
but accompanied by an opinion from the attorney general of that state to the 
efifect that the fugitive slave law of Maryland was considered unconstitutional 
in Pennsylvania. 

In June, 1849, James Kennedy of Hagerstown, Maryland, went to Carlisle, 
Pennsylvania, to recover runaway slaves, in accordance with provisions of an act 
of Congress. The slaves were arrested and remanded to their owner by an order 
of court; whereupon a riot ensued, and although the judge attempted to defend him 
by beating off his assailants, Kennedy was mortally wounded. 

In justice to the citizens of Carlisle, I will add that this infraction of the peace 
was due almost solely to its negro population, thirteen of whom were convicted 
for rioting; and that at a public meeting of its law-abiding citizens, the action of 
the mob was denounced as disgraceful, and resolutions passed extolling the charac- 
ter and good citizenship of Kennedy. 

Again, on September 11, 1851, Edward Gorsuch, of Baltimore County, while 
in Christiana, Pennsylvania, attempting to reclaim escaped slaves, was set upon 
by a mob and murdered. Sixty years to the day, September 11 last (igri), a 
shaft was erected on the spot where Gorsuch fell; an evidence of restored good feel- 
ing between the sections, now that men's passions have cooled, a cause for national 
thanksgiving. 

Bom of slave-holding parents, with like environment, Governor Pratt's polit- 
ical allegiance was severely tried; and doubtless these occurrences were the basis 
of a new political alignment in later years. 

By an amendment to the constitution of 1776, passed in 1837, the gubernato- 
rial term was fixed for three years, with its incumbent ineligible to succeed himself. 
Upon leaving the executive mansion, Governor Pratt purchased the colonial home 
of former Governor Benjamin Ogle in Annapolis, and resumed the practice of the 
law. 

His retirement from public life was of short duration. Early in 1849, Reverdy 
Johnson, a former fellow-townsman of Pratt, was confirmed by the federal senate 
as attorney-general of the United States in the cabinet of President Taylor. His 
resignation left a vacancy in the Federal Senate from Maryland, which was tem- 
porarily filled by the executive appointment of David Stewart of Baltimore City, 
but the legislature elected Governor Pratt to fill out Johnson's unexpired term of 
one year, and as his owti successor for a term of six years. Governor Pratt took his 
seat in the senate January 4, 1850, and served until the expiration of his term, March 
3, 1857. 

As a senator, he was a member of the committees on foreign relations, military 
aflFairs, District of Columbia, public printing, public buildings, claims, roads and 
canals, public lands, and chairman of a select committee on improvements of 
Patapsco river and Chesapeake bay. Among his colleagues were Daniel Webster, 
Henry Clay, John C. Calhoun, Jefferson Davis, Lewis Cass, Thomas H. Benton, 
Stephen A. Douglass, Sam Houston, Robert Toombs, Judah P. Benjamin, John C. 
Fremont, Benjamin F. Wade, Hannibal Hamlin, Salmon P. Chase, and Stephen 
R. Mallory. 

Senator Pratt entered actively into all the debates on the leading questions 
of his time, and displayed no mean ability in his forensic contests with the greatest 
giants of intellect and oratory which this country has produced. He favored the 



Proceedings of Third Annual Gathering 47 

establishment of agricultural coUeges throughout the states; advocated the building 
of a trans-continental railroad; the induction of water into the District of Columbia 
from the Potomac river; the exploitation of Central Africa with a view of trans- 
porting the slaves; the establishment of a telegraph line and mail route to the Pa- 
cific; and, as a matter of present and local interest, I will mention that he asked for 
consideration by the Senate, April 27, 1854, of his bill "to incorporate the National 
Hotel Company of Washington City," the hotel in which we are now assembled, 
which he spoke of as an extensive operation worthy of the metropolis of the nation. 
He thought the handing of passports to Mr. Crampton, the British minister, 
because of his offensive interpretation of privileges permitted by the Clayton- 
Bulwer treaty unnecessarUy severe, and so expressed himself in unequivocal 

language. 

Probably his most forceful debates were on slavery subjects and questions 
growing out of free-soil contentions for old territories seeking admission into the 
Union, and those carved out of lands acquired by the conflict with Mexico. 

He was unalterably opposed to the provisions of the Wilmot Proviso in its 
application to the states thus forming, and argued the right of California and Kan- 
sas to decide by a vote of their citizenry whether slavery should be prohibited with- 
in their borders. This was the doctrine of John C. Calhoun thus expressed: 

" The territories of the United States belong to the several states composing 
the Union; and are held by them as their joint and common property; that Con- 
gress as the joint agent and representative of the states of the Union, has no right 
to make any law or do any act whatever that shaU, directly or by its effects, make 
any discrimination between the states of this Union by which any of them shaU 
be deprived of its full and equal right in any territory of the United States acqmred 
or to be acquired." 

This same doctrine was declared the law of the land in 1857 by Chief Justice 
Roger Brooke Taney in his decision in the Dred Scott case. 

Responding to a letter addressed to him by many Whigs, requesting to know 
his attitude toward the presidential candidates of 1856, Senator Pratt replied: 
"The life of the nation is in danger. It must be saved; then, and not tiU then, will 
it be permissible for us to discuss our differences of opmion upon minor subjects." 

He acknowledged eminent qualifications as belonging to FiUmore (once a 
Whig); but would not support him because he deserted his party and accused it of 
corruption. Also he opposed him because of his sympathy with Knownothingism. 
He opposed Fremont on the ground that the Republican party was a purely sec- 
tional one, which had avowed its purpose of disunion and chosen as its party ban- 
ner a flag of sixteen stars representing the non-slave-holding states, and obliterat- 
ing the fifteen stars which represented the slave-holding states. 

The Whig and Democratic platforms on the slavery question were identical 
in 1852, he said; and since there was no Whig nominee, he would support Buchanan. 
Further, he declared that as patriots, it was the duty of every Whig to support him, 
because, to his mind, the election of either of the opposition candidates "would be 
the death-kneU of the Union," whose perpetuation he most sincerely hoped for 
and strongly advocated. 

Senator Pratt believed in domestic servitude, and the guarantees of the con- 
stitution and the Supreme Court decisions regarding it. When the storm broke 



48 American Clan Gregor Society 

he openly advocated secession; for which he was arrested and confined in Fort 
Monroe for a few weeks in 1861. 

At the expiration of his senatorial term, Pratt returned to Annapolis, and there 
remained until 1864, when he moved to Baltimore. He was a delegate to the Chi- 
cago National Democratic Convention in 1864; and a delegate to the Union Con- 
vention in Philadelphia in 1866. He announced his candidacy for the United 
States senate in 1867; but was not successful. 

Pratt was so long in political life that his professional standing is eclipsed by 
his public services; and yet his professional stature is no mere pigmy. During the 
period of his legal activity, scarcely a case of importance was tried at the bar of 
Prince George's County, or on appeal from that jurisdiction, in which Pratt did 
not appear. Probably the most important early case in which he figured was 
Boteler and Belt vs. State, Use of Creditors of Chew and Company, decided by 
the Maryland Court of Appeals in 1835. With him was Roger B. Taney. The 
opposing counsel were John Johnson and Alexander Contee Magruder. 

Another, decided in 1842 by the Court of Appeals, after nine years' litigation, 
was Damall vs. Hill. His associate in this case was Caleb Clarke Magruder, my 
father. Still another was Hall and Hall, Executors, vs. Edward W. Belt, in which 
Pratt appeared for appellants and Alexander Contee Magruder and Caleb Clarke 
Magruder for appellees. 

The most important case in which he ever appeared was Craufurd vs. Blackburn. 
He was one of the original counsel for Craufurd. My father was one of the origi- 
nal counsel for Dr. Blackburn. Before its final adjudication, the array of opposing 
counsel had become almost state-wide. Many of the attorneys in the original 
proceedings were dead; and some who had just been admitted to practice when the 
litigation began were seasoned practitioners at its end. 

This legal controversy arose in the Orphans' Court of Prince George's County. 
The Circuit Court of that County sent it to Charles County for trial. On appeal, 
it went to the state Court of Appeals, which confirmed the decision in the lower 
court. New questions having arisen, it was tried in the Circuit Court for Prince 
George's county, and an appeal taken. Again decided by the Court of Appeals, 
it was taken to the United States Federal Court of Maryland, then twice argued 
before the Supreme Court of the United States. 

About this time Father Fesiack of Paris, France, formerly of Washington, 
made an affidavit as to a certain marriage. As the controversy hinged on heirship, 
his evidence decided the case. Pratt died before its termination. He was almost 
uniformly unsuccessful in its numerous trials; but the legal contention which he 
sought to establish was eventually sustained. 

At his colonial home in Annapolis, and later at his residence in Baltimore, 
Pratt entertained with lavish hospitality his many personal and political friends. 
Frequent guests were Daniel Webster, Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun, easily 
favorites among his former senatorial colleagues. 

He died of heart trouble, at his home, 35 St. Paul street, Baltimore, November 
9, 1869. His funeral was held from old St. Anne's Church, Annapolis, interment 
being made in St. Anne's cemetery. 

Oden Bowie, then governor of the state, ordered all business suspended, flags 
at half-mast flew from all state buildings; and the governor, the adjutant-general 
with his staff, and the most prominent people of the state, attended. 



Proceedings of Third Annual Gathering 49 

Annovincement of his death was made to the Court of Appeals of Maryland by 
Hon. William H. Tuck, later a judge of that Court, and responded to by Chief 
Judge Bartol, who said, in part: 

" His life was a noble and brilliant career of usefulness and renown. He had 
achieved a deserved eminence at the bar as a sound and able lawyer. In the halls 
of legislation of his native state and in the Senate of the United States, he had 
proven himself an accomplished and able statesman; and in the ofl&ce of Governor 
of Maryland, he was a faithful, just and fearless magistrate." 

The bar of Baltimore City, in resolutions prepared by Reverdy Johnson, com- 
mended the "ability, fidelity and courage" which marked his public career, and the 
"admirable and attractive qualities which graced his social and domestic life." 

Strong men have inborn characteristics, which the opportunities of public 
life develop to a remarkable degree. "While there weue many admirable traits 
in the character of Governor Pratt," as a biographer describes him," "one stood 
out in such strong relief that all the others became merely background to it, and 
that one was his honesty — honesty for state, as well as for man, honesty in spirit, 
no less than in word." 

I knew Governor Pratt from the time of my earliest recollections imtil his 
death. He was a man of imposing build, more than six feet in height, weighing 
upward of two hundred pounds, with a noble forehead, regular features, strong 
mouth; and while naturally dignified, wore an affable smile, which invited confidence 
and inspired friendship. As a young lawyer I was much impressed by his knowledge 
and resourcefulness at the trial table; and always felt that I had been benefited by 
hearing his forensic efforts. 

Pratt was long a warm friend of my father, living as they did as close neigh- 
bors in Upper Marlboro'. Both of them dearly loved a game cock; and one of their 
foibles was the old Southern pastime of cock-fighting. I have known them to steal 
away from home, in a closed carriage, under the cover of darkness, to escape prjdng 
eyes and censuring tongues, to enjoy the forbidden sport. On one occasion, they 
were walking to the Marlboro' court house, earnestly discussing a law case set for 
immediate trial. Suddenly a cock crew. Both halted instantly. Glancing from one 
to the other, the silence was broken by, "There is a strange cock in town, Pratt." 

"No doubt of it," came the reply, "and he sounds game. We shall have to 
locate his owner." 

And then, without another word about their case, but with visions of a future 
cock-pit, they proceeded into the court room. 

Mr. Pratt married Adeline McCubbin Kent, on September i, 1835,* who sur- 
vived him many years. Their children were: 

Thomas George Pratt, Jr., who served in the Confederate Army, and died un- 
married; Florence Pratt who married George Hobson; John Pratt who died young; 
Adeline Pratt who married Mordecai Plummer; Rachel Pratt who married Daniel 
Clark; Robert Pratt who died young. 

Thomas George Pratt was the son of John Wilkes Pratt and Rachel Belt; 
grandson of Thomas Pratt and Eleanor Magruder; great-grandson of Robert Ma- 
gruder and Sarah Crabb; great- great-grandson of Samuel Magruder and Eleanor 
Wade; great-great-great-grandson of Samuel Magruder and Sarah Beall; great- 
great-great-great-grandson of Alexander Magruder, Maryland Immigrant. 

'Date of marriage license. 



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